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Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

FACT BRIEF

Have geneticists discovered remains of an ancient human whose parents were two different species?

Tuesday, May 18, 2021

By Stevie Rosignol-Cortez

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YES

Paleontologists discovered that two different species of humans, Neanderthals and Denisovans, interbred when they found genetic traces of both in a 90,000-year-old bone sample of a teenage female. Nature first published the discovery in 2018.

While scientists have long suspected that the species had mixed, the discovery was the first time a direct offspring was identified. The remains, which were found in Denisova cave in Siberia, suggest that the species mixing was common at the time, and help scientists understand where and when these ancient humans migrated. The DNA from the teenager’s mother, a later Neanderthal descendent from Europe, suggests that Neanderthals migrated across Eurasia “sometime after 120,000 years ago.”

Unlike Neanderthals, whose remains are more common, the understanding of Denisovans come from three teeth and a pinky finger, all discovered in the Siberian cave.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

National Geographic Denisovan Neanderthal hybrid

Nature Genome of the offspring of a Neanderthal mother and a Denisovan father

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Gigafact

Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

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Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.